Cruelty-free living for vegans and future vegans big and small

5 quick, easy family-friendly vegan meals – no. 2

Jus-Rol puff pasty is vegan-friendly (excluding the all butter puff)– we use the pre-rolled and spread the chopped tomatoes on. Add a sprinkling of grated dairy-free cheese such as Violife, sliced onion and pre-cooked vegan sausages cut to 1cm discs – Linda McCartney’s works best. Season to taste, add herbs (basil or oregano) if you have any to hand and bake at 200C for about 15-20 mins, checking the pasty has puffed up nicely but not burned. Add on any extras you like just as you would on a pizza – mushrooms, peppers, olives. Serves four.

Roasted Sweet Potato with Cheese, Mixed Beans and Tomatoes

Pierce the sweet potato a few times just as you would a white potato, then brush lightly with olive oil and add a pinch of salt on top before wrapping loosely in foil leaving a little air hole. Bake on high for about 30-45 minutes, until the skin is crispy and the flesh is soft. Add grated cheese (Violife grates really well, or if you like it to melt well, Sainsbury’s Greek style vegan cheese is perfect). Add a can of warm mixed baked beans (we used Heinz) and eat! If you share your home with any dogs, you can scoop out a little of the sweet potatoes flesh and once cooled give it to them as a little treat – our dog absolutely loves it, plus it’s very good for them!

Creamy Mushroom Pasta with Garden Peas (serves two)

Bring a pan of pasta to the boil. Add vegetable stock in the water for extra flavour. In a separate pan, dice one onion (red or white) and one garlic glove, fry in a teaspoon of olive oil until golden brown. Add six medium-sized sliced mushrooms of your choice. Once the mushrooms have cooked through, remove from the heat and stir though a large tablespoon of plant-based cream cheese or non-dairy creme fraiche (Oatly is the best one I know – available from Tesco). Add a handful of garden peas to the boiling pasta pan – saves washing up an extra pan – and once the peas and pasta have cooked through drain and plate up with the mushroom mix on top. Add a teaspoon of nutritional yeast on the side and season to taste.

Fridge Raider Super Salad

This is a great way to use up fruit and veg lying around and can easily be adapted to what needs using up, whether that’s broccoli, carrots, cucumber, tomatoes and so on. Add some salad leaves to a bowl, a small handful of nuts (walnuts, cashews and pine nuts work well), some cooked and cooled green beans or mange touts, pre-cooked beetroot and mix well. You can add flax, pumpkin and chia seeds too for added goodness. Toss with a little extra virgin olive oil. Serve with sweetcorn, avocado, cubed cheese, hummus, a slice of bread and blueberries.

Homemade Nice Cream (serves 2)

You’ll need to have pre-frozen sliced banana and frozen mango chunks, and a blender. Add the frozen banana and a small handful of frozen mango chunks in with a cupful of fridge-cold pineapple juice (you can use mango, tropical or peach juice if you prefer) and pulse until smooth, adding more juice if needed. Note that you may need to stop and give the mix a stir throughout the blending process. You can add a teaspoon of chia seeds if you want to be extra-healthy. As it has no refined sugar in, the dog can enjoy a spoonful too. We were lucky enough to have this picked as the Vivaveganista winning dish back in December.